What’s stopping you?
Posted by Heather Villa, CMA, MBA, MSM on January 23, 2009 in: Branding, Business - Plain & Simple
Creating new products or services is fun! I love the idea of taking an idea and helping someone develop it, turn it into something real, and then sell it. And I know my clients like it, too, because I stay busy with this work!
Unfortunately, I’m seeing a dangerous trend in the market that impacts this product or service development. It’s related to the economy, of course: Companies are spending less on product development and many are choosing to wait until the economy improves before they bring new products to market.
While I do appreciate and preach (and practice) prudence in business spending, and I wouldn’t want a company innovating itself out of existence, the trend toward less innovation is worrisome.
I’d like to suggest that the best time to innovate is now. The best time to turn ideas into products is now. The best time to take new products to market is now.
Here are my reasons:
- Chances are, it will cost less because other businesses (who may become your vendors) are slashing prices to get work. Spending some now will probably mean spending far less than if you were to buy the same products or services when the economy is good.
- Your competitors are choosing the no-spending/no-innovation path. They’re just keeping their head down and hoping to make it through the recession! If you take a different approach, you’ll differentiate yourself from your competition.
- You may not sell a bunch of these products or services now, but you’ll have time to perfect them before the market picks up again. Then, when the market is chugging away (like we all hope it will… and like we all know it has in the past), your products will be market-ready for people who are eager to spend!
Now is the time for innovation! What’s stopping you?
Please don’t let it be me! I will offer this, for the first 3 people to comment (valid comments) on this blog post, I will offer 2 coaching sessions (1 hour x 2) free of charge – to speak with you about your doubts, your ideas, process outlining or project implementation.
Now is the time to step up to the plate, now is the time to embrace the current economic situation and fly with your ideas.
Have a great day,
Heather Villa
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6 Comments
My issue at the moment is less about economic conditions and more about the imbalance of ideas and time/capital to make those ideas happen. As an “ultra-micro” business that is really only me, my wife, and my brother, I spend so much time trying to make sure I have the billable hours to keep our business afloat that there is nothing left over for pursuing these ideas.
I have no doubt that one or two of them could be made to be very lucrative, but it would take an infusion of angel cash to give me the resources to bring any of these ideas to fruition. Angel investors don’t usually invest in vapor-ware so we’re back to trying to put something together on a shoestring and in what few hours we can scratch out between billable clients. That recipe is very difficult to be successful with.
I realize that your post was most likely targeted at companies larger than ours, but I wanted to comment mainly to highlight that it’s not just the larger (meaning larger than our operation) companies that have all the good ideas.
DSkaggs,
I completely agree with you, the majority of the time it is the small companies with the brilliant ideas. I obviously can’t make any suggestions to your specific ideas without knowing them, but there are ways to work around the financial situation and not need angel investors.
You don’t have to launch a product overnight, however there are research and development processes that you can do early on more economically.
Let’s talk!
I have to say that initial project ideas are not my forte. I work better when bouncing around existing ideas. However, a big part of my hesitation with launching a business (besides my awesome day job that I love) is ongoing support…I haven’t met someone I’d consider a great business partner and I’d like to be able to take a vacation once in a while without being tied to clients’ requests. And many times, doing one project leads to ongoing support whether it’s a good time for me or not. And with a growing family, sometimes there’s just not time!
But I do agree that, if you can afford to invest or create, a down economy is the place to do it to get a leg up on the competition. Great time to buy as many stocks as you can afford, too. Which for me equals about one share…
David S.,
Support… heavy word and very challenging. My grandmother always said ‘you can’t please all of the people all of the time’, but truth be told if you have a company (especially one that is providing services) – you have to at least try.
I have helped many people find a balance between providing excellent support and maintaining personal time with their families and friends.
It takes great organization skills and much patience, but it can be done.
We should definitely speak more!
I am just too afraid to invest in a shaky economy.
Having just found your site(s), I haven’t had a lot of time to read many of your articles. Still, I am enamored with your rich business offerings and diversification. IAC seems involved with many different facets of service work centering around some core business needs: VA work, managing online persona/marketing, accounting services and online software, bookkeeping education and your mentoring efforts.
That is fantastic–it seems to be everything that I have read about in entrepreneurial books in the last few years. The potential created by these multiple streams of income is amazing to me.
I seem to have plenty of inspirations and ideas, but have repeatedly said that my biggest stumbling block was not having a qualified mentor or someone to discuss ideas with that had experience with the lifestyle/business I wanted to pursue.
I, too, am lucky enough to have a job that provides for my family and also offers skill development opportunity for me to use in my own entrepreneurial pursuits. Still, there is that leap-of-faith that must be made, especially when you cannot just copy a business plan or process but instead must invent your own, to get yourself away from your employee “comfort zone” and into the business owner status. That is where I fail.
If I cannot find someone to help me to see the different angles and weigh the costs, how do I know if developing this product or that service is better than staying with this employer or seeking that new job position. This is what keeps me in my chair while Opportunity walks away from my door.
Regardless, I am now exposed to your influence and hope to follow your thoughts in the future.
Thanks for being an example.